I Danced on the Sand: A Memoir of Child Abuse, Hope, and Promise

Rating:
Summary: It's a difficult read but worth the insight you'll gain...
Review: For a first time writer of any genre, this is a gutsy and honest portrayal of unfathomable abuse that many children in America and around the world live through. Ms. Lincoln's courage is manifold: her survival, her disclosure, her honesty, her compassion.
Anne Lincoln's remarkably candid memoir of sexual and ritual abuse, like the little girl who lived it, is raw, tenuous, and rigorously honest. This is the story of a `little girl with the perfect life' whose very existence was sabotaged by those closest to her. Ms. Lincoln's use of a sparse narrative style is effective, allowing her to narrate the experiences and psychology of a little girl's fragmented world with an urgency and specificity that is palpable. Perhaps the most unnerving, the most compelling aspect of this memoir is the truthful rendering of a girl's psychological and physical self-awareness from ages 6 to 19, surviving tortures many of us could never even fathom. While the memoir would have benefitted from some tighter editing to streamline repetitive parts and vary the language, it's a very fine piece of writing from a first time writer and an important read.
Now a mature woman, Anne Lincoln has successfully ended the cycle of violence and abuse that plagued her family for generations. Her memoir is testimony to the indomitable spirit of a little girl that believed, somewhere deep inside, that someday, things would be better.
Have the courage to read this book and you'll get a glimpse of one little girl's tenacity to survive intact.